Charities have said brutal benefits cuts are behind a growing number of desperate elderly people being made homeless.

Department of Local Government and Communities figures analysed by Mirror Online show 1,300 elderly people were classed as homeless or in ‘priority need’ of emergency accommodation last year.

The figure is 10 per cent up on two years ago, when 1,180 people over-65 needed emergency help from local councils to find shelter.

Charities have said Government cuts to benefits and homeless services and rising private rents are to blame.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive for homeless charity Crisis, said: “The reasons for this rise are clear – more and more households are struggling to pay their rent in an increasingly insecure rental market, while cuts to housing benefit and services that prevent and solve homelessness have left the safety net in tatters.

“Homelessness is a harrowing experience for anyone, but for older people, some of whom will have disabilities or physical health issues, it can be particularly distressing.

“In theory older people should be able to get help from their council, but there is always a danger they will slip through the gaps. It would be far better if they never had to face homelessness in the first place.”

Of th 1,300 classed as homeless last year – 420 were over 75.

According to Crisis figures there has been a 26 per cent increase in homelessness since 2009/10 – the year the Conservatives came to power.

Local councils must provide people with emergency accommodation once it has established they are not ‘intentionally homeless’.

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said the government had delivered more than 14,000 affordable homes for elderly people since coming into power.

He said: “We have made over £500million available since 2010, to support the most vulnerable in society and to guard people against the threat of homelessness.

“And we have already provided 14,000 homes for older people with more to come.”

A 35-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department has been lauded online after an image of him buying a homeless man a Chipotle for lunch went viral.
Sergeant B Hagarty was buying himself a meal in the Mexican eatery on Friday when he noticed the man rooting in the bins outside and invited him in for some food.

All of us have seen food going to waste – but this man decided to do something about it.

Sick of his work canteen throwing copious amounts of food in the bin on a weekly basis, Simeon Gayle put it to good use instead and fed the homeless.

In a video, shot on his mobile phone, the 27-year-old explains that as each Friday rolls around, staff in the canteen at his place of work end up throwing perfectly good sandwiches away after being unable to sell them.

These sandwiches, he adds, are usually on sale for up to £5 each.

“Basically, at my workplace every Friday, there’s a whole heap of sandwiches that they usually sell for £3, £4 or £5,” he says.

“But because they can’t sell them on the weekends, they end up throwing them away.”

“I walk past a bunch of homeless people, hungry people on my way to work. I can’t let that happen,” he added.

Simeon then approaches a group of three homeless men sat on the street and hands out sandwiches to them.

He explains that he’ll be around each Friday to hand out the food, and encourages the three homeless men to tell as many people as they can.

Figures published by the Ministry of Justice show a 47% increase in evictions by bailiffs since housing benefit cuts were introduced in 2011. More than 10,000 households lost their homes between April and June 2015.

The data shows that the majority of landlord repossession claims came from social landlords. Between April and June 2015 there were 21,160 (58%) repossession claims from social landlords, compared to 5,038 (14%) from private landlords.

10,014 (28%) claims were made using accelerated procedures, reports24Dash.com. The proportion of repossession claims made using these provisons increased from 7% in 1999 to 22% in 2014. As much as 64% of these in 2014 were made by social landlords, while only 14% were made by private landlords.

All but one of the top twenty local authorities with the highest proportion of repossession claims were in London. The London borough of Newham came top with 552 per 100,000 households.

“Every day at Shelter we see the human cost of the country’s unfolding affordability crisis with growing numbers of families finding themselves on the verge of homelessness, and petrified that any small drop in income could leave them with the bailiffs knocking at the door.

“More cuts to housing benefit, while doing nothing to tackle the ridiculous cost of housing, is short-sighted at best.

“If the government really wants to fix the housing crisis and bring down rents so people can afford them without needing support, the only answer is to invest in building genuinely affordable homes.”

Homeless protesters, raising awareness of how many people sleep rough in Manchester city centre, are to be evicted from St Ann’s Square and Castlefield camps on Friday.

Manchester City Council won a wide ban on the camp on July 31 after it was set up in April by campaigners unhappy about the unfairness of the council’s homelessness policy and lack of support for them.

Representatives of Manchester-based human rights organisation RAPAR as well as members of the public and supporters attended a rally for the camp in May.

The protesters’ representative, Ben Taylor of WTB Solicitors, said: “The County Court has informed the homeless camp that the County Court Bailiffs will attend the campsites at St Ann’s Square at 7am on Friday.

“Because an appeal of the possession order has not been launched, the eviction will go ahead as planned and the campsite will have to leave by that time.”

A further injunction order was granted to the council which prevents future protests about their homeless policy.

The council has specified that while homeless people are disallowed from using tents to sleep in they may occupy sleeping bags, blankets, cardboard boxes, benches, doorways, bus shelters, hostels and charity accommodation.

Housing activists in Dublin have “reclaimed” a former hostel that has been vacant for three years, saying they will soon open it up to house homeless families.

Formerly known as Bolton House, the building on Bolton Street is owned by Dublin City Council and was used to accommodate homeless people before being closed in 2011.

The property had been deemed “not fit for purpose”, a council spokeswoman said. “Upgrading works need to take place and plans for this are being considered by the local authority.”

In recent weeks however, organisations that have emerged in response to the housing crisis came together as the Irish Housing Network and identified the building as one they could quickly put back to use as emergency accommodation.

Research

“We researched it and found it was owned by the council,” said Séamus Farrell, a teacher involved in the network.

“So we entered the building a few weeks ago. It was in very good condition, considering it’s been empty for three years. We knew with a bit of work it could be really nice.”

Plumbers and electricians have been in, on a voluntary basis, to ensure wiring is safe, to fix a leaking pipe and make sure taps and toilets are working.

There are six bedrooms over three floors, three bathrooms, a kitchen and a number of living areas. There is more communal space in an adjacent building, which was also part of the original Bolton House.

The stairs are carpeted and the rooms are clean, albeit in need of redecoration. Rooms are sparsely furnished but new curtains and bed linen have been donated.

The “liberation” of the building – renamed the Bolt Hostel – has been publicised on social media and the group had stalls on the street last weekend to tell the local community what they were doing.

“There has been an outpouring of support from people,” said Mr Farrell.

Homeless people and families have been in touch asking about moving in.

“We got a letter dropped in yesterday from a couple who have been living in a tent for 18 months.”